Making transport in London more accessible How the Mayor is making it easier for you to travel around London. EasyRead version of: Your accessible transport network The Mayor’s commitment to making it even easier for you to travel around London MAYOR OF LONDON Transport for London What is in this booklet Page A few words from Boris Johnson, 1 the Mayor Our services 2 Freedom Pass 3 London buses 3 Training bus drivers 5 Mobility card 6 Tube and rail 7 London Underground 7 London Rail 9 Taxis 11 Dial a Ride 12 Travel mentoring 12 Travel Support Card 12 River services 13 People who walk 13 Information for customers. 14 What is in this booklet Page Our promise to make things even 16 Better How we will do this 17 How you can get involved 26 Our plan for step free stations 27 A few words from Boris Johnson, the Mayor This summer we had the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Because we spent a lot of money making transport in London accessible: ● disabled people travelled to more places and events than at any other games ● even when transport was really busy disabled people could choose how to travel around London. Things are better but we must spend more money to: ● make the tube easier to use ● build Crossrail with step free stations all over London 1 Our services 11 out of every 100 people in London are disabled. They make over a million journeys in London every day. Older people or people with young children, baby buggies or heavy bags make about 6 million journeys each day. We want all these people to be able to use different types of transport easily. London has one of the oldest transport systems in the world and we have done a lot to make it easier to use. We hope you will think things are ? better. 2 Freedom Pass Many disabled people and everyone over 60 years old gets a Freedom Pass from their local council. This means they travel free on most London transport. Contact your local council to see if you can have a pass. London’s buses Every bus in London can be used in a wheelchair’. We check each bus every day to make sure the ramp works properly. All buses have written and spoken information about where they are and what the next stop is. 3 You can find out where buses are and when the next one is coming by looking on the internet, text message or using some smart phones. A lot of bus stops also have signs to tell you this. People in wheelchairs can use most bus stops and we will change any that are still difficult to use. 4 Training bus drivers Bus drivers in London get special training to make sure they treat their customers well and understand about disabilities. We give them a Big Red Book which says how to support disabled customers by doing things like: ● parking close to the kerb ● kneeling the bus to help people get on ● giving people time to get on and sit down before the bus starts ● giving extra help and information 5 ● knowing which mobility scooters are safe on buses. We will check this book has all the information drivers need as we make more changes to transport. Mobility card “We try to allow as many wheelchairs and mobility scooters to use our buses as possible. Some may be too large.” If you have a mobility card it shows the driver you can use the bus. 6 Tube and rail Nearly half the stops and stations for rail transport are now step free. London Underground The Underground is nearly 150 years old and was built when people did not think about disabled people using stations. This means it can be difficult and expensive to change. We are working hard to make things better: ● there are 66 step-free stations ● all trains on the Victoria line are new and have wider doors and spaces for wheelchairs 7 ● nearly half of Underground trains will soon have wider doors, space for wheelchairs, lower floors and written and spoken information about where the train is and the next stop ● priority seats for disabled people or people who cannot walk far ● 250 wider gates at stations ● 35 stations have parts of the platform which is higher so it is easier to get on the train 8 ● 16 stations have ramps that staff can move to help people using wheelchairs get onto the Tube because there is a gap between the train and the platform. London Rail All Docklands Light Railway stations are accessible. This includes having the platform level with the train. All the old Overground trains have been changed for new ones which you can walk right through. Nearly half the Overground stations do not have steps from the street to the platform. All new stations also have no steps to the trains and we have built lifts at four more stations. 9 Other changes: ● induction loops for passengers with hearing aids ● tactile paving to help people with sight loss and stop them going to close to the edge at tram stops ● more help and information points ● no steps to get onto trams ● free tram travel for people in wheelchairs (even if they do not have a Freedom Pass) 10 Taxis There are 22 thousand black cabs in London and they are all completely accessible for people in wheelchairs. All London taxis and minicabs must carry guide dogs and assistance dogs. Many taxis also have: ● different coloured patches to help you see the seats ● coloured grab handles ● a seat that swivels ● a step to help you get in ● intercom to help you talk to the driver ● induction loop for people with a hearing aid. Some Londoners who have a serious disability and cannot use public transport get a Taxicard. We run this with some London councils and it means people pay less to use a taxi. 11 Dial a Ride This is a free service for disabled and older passengers. It picks you up from home and takes you where you want to go. More and more people use this service if they cannot use public transport. Travel mentoring This service supports disabled people in London who use a Dial-a-Ride scheme and would like to try other transport. The support person helps you with your journey until you feel able to do it on your own. Travel Support Card This card helps disabled people who find it difficult to ask for help. There is space for your name, an emergency phone number and information about the support you need to travel. 12 River services We own 8 piers and you can get from all of them to a boat without having to use steps. Most river boats are accessible and new boats have spaces for wheelchairs. People who walk We have done a lot of things to make streets safer with less things to bump into and better crossings. 9 out of every 10 crossings with traffic lights now have warnings you can hear or feel. We are using more Pedestrian Countdown systems to tell people how long they have left to cross after the green man symbol has finished. 13 Legible London signs are maps that help people find their way around. You can find them on streets, stations and bus stops. ? Information for customers It is no good having accessible transport if people do not know how to use it. We can give you good clear information in lots of different ways: ● our website has lots of information including ‘how to’ films about buying tickets, planning a journey and different types of transport ● maps to show which stations are step free 14 ● booklets and our Journey Planner that tell you about steps, ramps and how to get help with travel ● lots of signs at stations and stops and on transport. You can find information about accessible transport in different formats from: www.tfl.gov.uk/mobility 15 Our promise to make things even better What we want to do Over the next 4 years we want to: ● give clearer advice so you can choose the best way to travel ● make changes to things like, trains, stations and buses so it is easier for you to use more of the transport system ● train our staff better so they can give the right help to all passengers ● work with disabled people so we know what you need and make the changes you want 16 How we will do this We will have more accessible information By summer 2013 there will be: ● better signs at Tube stations ● maps and information about using Tube trains ● a step free rail map for the whole of London ● better information on our website for disabled people 17 ● accessible ‘apps’ for smart phones ● Twitter to tell people about new services In 2014 there will be: ● a better website ● a better Journey Planner ● an interactive tube map to help you plan journeys. 18 We will have better infrastructure (things like stations, trains and buses) We will keep making more Tube and rail stations step free (you can see our plan for this on page 27). In 2013 we will have: ● plans about ramps at Underground stations where we cannot make the platform level with the trains ● wider gates at Tube stations. By 2014 there will be: ● new Tube trains on the Hammersmith & City line with space for wheelchairs and better written and spoken information 19 By 2016 there will be: ● new trains on the District line ● lots of work on 37 more tube stations In 2018: ● Crossrail trains will have space for wheelchairs and better written and spoken information We will have better buses and bus stops By 2013: ● 7 out of 10 bus stops will be accessible By 2016 / 2017: ● 9 out of 10 bus stops will be accessible 20 We will make things safer for people who walk: By 2015 / 2016 ● there will be a Countdown at 200 crossings ● every crossing with traffic lights will have warnings you can hear or feel ● there will be more Legible London signs ● we will keep making pavements and crossings safer ● we will try technology that makes traffic lights change more quickly if lots of people are waiting to cross.